Cal Am: No time to pursue permits for desal backup plans

California American Water's best bet is to pursue its first option for its planned desalination plant before it goes after permits for backup plans, a company official told a Peninsula mayors water authority advisory committee Monday.

In a report to the authority's technical advisory committee, Cal Am director of engineering Rich Svindland said the various regulatory agencies generally resist any attempt to seek permits for multiple contingency plans, and such an effort would likely take more time than seeking approval of one option at a time.

Svindland also laid out the company's contingency plans for water intake and told the committee there were essentially no feasible options besides wells in the Salinas Valley groundwater basin or open ocean intake. And he reiterated company officials' belief that Cal Am is pursuing the lowest-risk option with its plans for shoreline slant wells north of Marina, despite the threat of legal action from agricultural interests.

At the same time, Svindland said Cal Am would do whatever it could to expedite getting permits and noted there is a meeting planned with state Coastal Commission staff later this month toward that end. He said company officials assume Cal Am's backup intake plans — including vertical Ranney wells or open ocean intake at the Cemex site, wells at Potrero Road near Moss Landing, or open ocean intake at Moss Landing — would be studied in the proposed project's environmental review.

Svindland was speaking in response to the water authority's decision to require Cal Am to meet certain conditions in order to earn the mayors' support with the state Public Utilities Commission. The PUC is considering Cal Am's permit application for a desal plant as part of its proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project, designed to provide a replacement source of water to meet demand when a state-ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River takes full effect starting in 2017. Company officials have already acknowledged that the project is about a year behind schedule and won't be finished in time to meet the state water board's deadline.

The authority included a requirement for Cal Am to continue developing "alternative intake strategies" if the company's intake wells prove "legally or technically infeasible," and to "fully develop" contingency plans for desal source water outside the Salinas Valley groundwater basin at the same time Cal Am is planning and testing its shoreline wells.

Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett, chairman of the committee, said Monday the authority wanted to avoid a situation where Cal Am's test slant wells don't pan out, for whatever reason, and there is no backup plan.

Cal Am's current plan calls for starting up its proposed test wells in December, and pumping from both a shallower aquifer and a disputed 180-foot aquifer for at least two years. Monitoring wells will also be designed to show any impact of the pumping on groundwater levels. Svindland said company officials believe they are close to an agreement with Cemex, which owns a plant near the proposed intake wells site, on the location of the test wells before finalizing a permit application with the city of Marina.

Salinas Valley agricultural interests have expressed skepticism that Cal Am can prove its slant wells can provide adequate source water without tapping the 180-foot aquifer. They have vowed to vigorously oppose any attempts to pump long-term from the Salinas Valley groundwater basin where growers and others have poured millions of dollars into water projects designed to halt seawater intrusion. In addition, they've argued that Cal Am would still need to prove access to water rights in the aquifer, which would require demonstrating no overlying water users could be harmed by additional pumping.

Svindland told the committee Cal Am's position is the slant wells would extend far enough under the ocean that they would no longer technically be in the disputed areas, noting that no one is currently using the water, and predicted the source water would be at least 97 percent seawater. He pointed out that Cal Am plans to return any fresh water from its intake wells to the Salinas Valley, and said it was hard to see how the farmers' inland wells would be impacted.

However, Svindland also said Cal Am officials would consider a memo submitted by an expert representing the Salinas Valley Water Coalition that outlines growers' concerns, and added that it would also likely be addressed in the project's environmental review.

Svindland also offered an overview of Cal Am's efforts in other areas where the authority has demanded the company meet its set of conditions, including agreement on a public governance plan, acceptance of a public contribution of funds, pursuit of lower power costs, limited use of a $99 million surcharge and proof of access to low-interest state loan funding.

Despite Svindland's report, Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie said company officials have not yet agreed to the authority's conditions but were "happy to provide an update on areas of interest and concern where possible."

Burnett said the committee would make updates from Cal Am a regular agenda item.